Greenwood fire dept. puts out garbage fire

Firefighters in Greenwood put out a garbage fire late Thursday afternoon, Aug. 5, according to city Fire Chief Roy Terashita.

READ MORE: B.C. declares state of emergency over wildfire season, preparing for potential ‘mass evacuation’

The fire broke out near the city dump at around 2:45 p.m., when someone appears to have piled trash up against a rock bluff and then set it alight, Terashita told The Times. Volunteer firefighters met a BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) crew at the scene on Motherlode Road, near the intersection of Deadwood Road, where they soon put out the flames.

Building materials, including drywall, were strewn throughout the small burn pile, he said. It is illegal to burn those materials anywhere in B.C., at any time, according to the Environmental Management Act.

Calling on the public, a disappointed Terashita said, “Please, don’t burn stuff at this time. And, watch your cigarette butts.”

READ MORE: Grand Forks COs promise stiff penalties for fire ban violations

Thursday’s incident comes roughly two weeks after the province declared a state of emergency owing to one of the worst wildfire seasons in B.C. history; just over a month since an excoriating heat wave sent temperatures into the mid-40’s C across the West Boundary, Grand Forks and Christina Lake.

The City of Greenwood banned all open burns starting June 30. Conservation Officers have meanwhile vowed to issue steep tickets under the Wildfire Act to anyone caught flouting the BCWS’s ban on open burns and campfires across the Southeast Fire Centre.

Residents are reminded to immediately report all wildfires to the BCWS’s 24-hour hotline at 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 from a cell phone.

Terashita said the department mostly likely won’t investigate Thursday’s fire. No firefighters were hurt and there was no damage to property, he said.

@ltritsch1
laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.ca
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